The two critical words that will help us unlock the meaning of the Gospel reading, are night, and see. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night: that is to say, Nicodemus was in the dark, he didn’t understand. The first thing Jesus said to him was, “no one can see the kingdom of God . . .” Jesus recognized that Nicodemus was in the dark, and offered him a way to see what he was looking for. Both words, dark and see, have literal physical meanings, and both are metaphors for spiritual meanings. The whole conversation operates on those two levels.

This story of Nicodemus comes closer to our lives in the 21st century than many others in the Gospels, because Nicodemus was an educated urban professional, like many of us. We know he was educated because he was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish Council, the Sanhedrin. He would have studied for years to become eligible to serve on that council. We know he lived in Jerusalem, so he was a city-dweller, but he didn’t have a Jewish name. Nicodemus is a Greek name, which indicates that his family had significant relationships with Gentiles. And, he was a person whose occupation was to use his knowledge and judgment in his work, which is what professionals do. So he was in quite a different socio-economic demographic than the disciples. They were fishermen and farmers from the villages of Galilee, and were probably illiterate.

So I can identify with Nicodemus, both because he was an educated urban professional, and also because he was a seeker. I clearly remember the time in my life when I was actively searching for the meaning of life. Every time I saw a church, I wondered what truths could be found there, and longed to know. As I searched, I gradually became aware that I was not looking for information . . . that what I was looking for, could not be found in a doctrine, or a statement of faith, or even in a religious practice. I was looking for a living connection to ultimate reality; I was seeking an experience of the divine. I believe that Nicodemus was feeling a similar need and desire. Although he was well-versed in the study of the Torah, although he probably observed all the commandments, and he was a religious leader, he too was seeking that living connection. He seems to have been the only Pharisee who considered the possibility that Jesus had indeed “come from God”.

Before I go on to the content of that conversation, I want to draw your attention to the fact that it was a conversation, and why that is important. One of the ways that the Gospel of John differs from the other 3 Gospels, is that it includes so many conversations that various people had with Jesus. Most of the teaching of Jesus so familiar from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, are not found in the Gospel of John. Instead there are several long speeches, and five conversations in which Jesus responded to the concerns and questions of individuals. He engaged in a process of listening and responding and listening again.

While I was reflecting on this conversational style, I discovered a Conversation Covenant. It was adopted by the students and faculty of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, and I almost thought it could have been based on these conversations in the Gospel of John. In their Covenant, members of the seminary community strive “to approach conversation with a willingness to listen and learn, to treat one another as honest inquirers, to be open to the possibility of changing our views, to consider the possibility that we might be mistaken, to ask for clarification, and to make room for complexity”. Every one of those elements is present in the conversation of Jesus and Nicodemus. Jesus certainly treated Nicodemus as an honest inquirer, and listened carefully. Nicodemus was apparently open to changing his views, and he did ask for clarification. Jesus presented a complex statement about being born anew, and Nicodemus seems to have made room for it.

In these conversations in the Gospel of John, Jesus used ordinary verbs, such as to give and to drink, and he used words for physical objects such as waterbread, to refer to spiritual experiences, which cannot be observed directly, or measured. In order to understand what Jesus meant, Nicodemus had to be willing to jump from the literal meaning of “to see”, to the metaphorical meaning: to become aware, to recognize. That first jump was easy enough, but the second one was much harder. Jesus asked him to jump from the physical meaning of “being born”, to the spiritual meaning of birth . . . but, what is the spiritual meaning?? So Nicodemus asked for clarification: “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb?” The answer Jesus gave to thos questions, was completely in accord with the teaching of Hebrew prophets, and yet it seemed like a new idea, and it was difficult for him to understand.

Here is the background for what Jesus said. The prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Zechariah), frequently referred to the Lord as a fountain of living water, and they used water imagery to describe the person who was living in faithful obedience to God. In many places they said, those who trust in the Lord, shall be like trees planted by water (Jer 17:8). The vital connection is symbolized by water: it was an obvious choice for people living in a semi-arid land. In addition, there are 3 or 4 passages where the prophets used water and spirit as parallel descriptions of what God will do to save his people. The most familiar passage is from Ezekiel, and it was written during the Exile in Babylon. God said, “I will gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land, I will sprinkle clean water upon you . . . and I will put a new Spirit within you” (Ezek 36:24-26). When Jesus said, “no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit”, he was saying that the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel are now being fulfilled. More than that, he was saying to Nicodemus: you are welcome in the Kingdom of God ~~ open your heart to this spiritual change.

The question remains, why did Jesus use birth, or being-born-from-above, as his metaphor for such a change? I can think of three reasons. First, birth is a new beginning, and Jesus was inviting people to make a new beginning in their relationship with God. Second, the idea of birth directs our attention to the parents. Jesus was inviting people to think of God less as the Almighty Lord, and more as the loving father who is searching for his lost children. And third, newborns, or people born from above, have so much to learn: they are in a new world and must figure out how it works.

The new beginning Jesus offered, both then and now, is based on the forgiveness of sins: the complete removal of the burden of guilt, and sorrow and separation from God. This forgiveness is available to anyone who asks for it ~~ you don’t even have to be in church! But you do have to “truly repent and sincerely believe” the good news of God’s forgiveness. That new beginning also involves a change in our relationship with God. The picture Jesus painted in his parables, in his teaching and in his actions, is quite different from the picture that most first century Jews had. God’s demand that the people be holy, had evolved into an elaborate system of requirements, which only wealthy Jews could meet. As is true today among Christian denominations, there were different practices and theologies among the Jewish sects, and they disagreed with each other. Devout Jews doing their best, were caught up in arguing with one another over the fulfillment of the commandments.

Through the many healings Jesus performed, through his concern for the poor and the lost and the outcast, Jesus was demonstrating the love of God for all people. He was shifting their attention back to something that had always been there ~~ the assurance of God’s love, and of God’s intention to save. It was rare in Jesus’ time for Jews to refer to God as father. So it was scandalous for Jesus to pray to God using the familiar child’s word “Abba”, which in English is “Daddy”. What is important about that usage, is how it is used in ordinary life. The child who calls her father Daddy, trusts that Daddy loves me, and is actively taking care of me. This is precisely what that famous verse at the end of today’s reading is about: “for God so loved the world, (for Daddy so loved the world) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who trusts in him may not perish, but have eternal life”.

The only thing left to explain, is what are all those new things that people have to learn, who are born of water and the Spirit? The new things are partly spiritual disciplines: forgiving the sins of those who hurt us, resisting temptation, loving our neighbors as ourselves, listening to the guidance of the Spirit. And then there are new spiritual behaviors to learn as well: visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and in general, acting as God’s hands and heart. This is the exact reason we are taking the Millennium Development Goals so seriously. Jesus was saying that God loves the world: namely the people, ALL the people, some of whom are children that die young, and others who never get a primary education, and some have HIV-AIDS, and others cannot make a living because of overfishing, and deforestation, and global trade agreements. Because God loves the world, we who have received that love, we who have been born of water and the Spirit, are needed, and called to bring the divine love to all the people, to all the places and situations where death is triumphing over life. To see the Kingdom of God, is to recognize all human beings as members of God’s household, God’s family, and to share with our relatives the things that bring life and hope.